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Here are my findings from the weekend. I have located the source of the leak. It seems to be coming from the seals between the manifold and carb and then slowly leaking down to the back 2 corners of the bottom of the intake. It is a very slow leak but leaking nonetheless. I can prove this by the construction paper under the rear of the intake and by the wetness of the seals.

Prior to running this test, the bowl of the carb had been dry all week on the side where the jets are (left-center). The far right side of the bowl is slightly higher and there was still a little bit of fuel in that part, just a splash of wetness on the bottom. I checked prior to manually filling the bowl and all the carb-to-intake seals were dry. After filling the bowl at around 10:30 AM yesterday morning, I returned at 6:30 PM to find the marks on the construction paper and the seals wet.

Is this just a matter of tightening those 4 bolts that hold the carb onto the manifold? Or is there another issue inside the carb that is causing the seals to get we just by putting gas in the bowl? Can the carb be taken off the manifold while still bolted to the engine? I feel like this is a minor little thing that I can fix on my end without having Bill swap me out with replacement parts.

Basically I'm asking other carb setup owners their thoughts. Thanks ahead of time. Some pics of my findings are below.

Bill mentioned using construction paper because it has a dye in it and will leave its mark, if gasoline is indeed leaking down.

Bill is a mad man, but he is a freaking genius.

Rest assured, we have a backup of Farrar's car blog and it will be restored in the near future. (Steve Rice - March 2016)
Rest assured, we have a backup of Shep's posts and all of them will be restored in the near future. (Steve Rice - March 2017)

Bill's early manifolds such as mine and Farrar's weren't 100% true so we needed thicker O-rings such as the X pattern ones to get a perfect seal. Farrar discovered the McMaster part I posted above and for a while Bill was shipping those O-rings with his manifolds.

Bill told me around manifold #12 or so, that his manifolds were 100% true and that they work perfect with the original style O-rings. While that might be the case, I still prefer and recommend the X pattern. It doesn't cost much to order a bag of them and its nice insurance to ensure against vacuum leaks.

For Bill, it is pretty much a pride thing where he brags his manifolds are now perfect and no longer need the thicker O-rings. Bill makes really nice manifolds and carb kits, but it doesn't hurt to have insurance against vacuum leaks.

Rest assured, we have a backup of Farrar's car blog and it will be restored in the near future. (Steve Rice - March 2016)
Rest assured, we have a backup of Shep's posts and all of them will be restored in the near future. (Steve Rice - March 2017)

Is this just a matter of tightening those 4 bolts that hold the carb onto the manifold? Or is there another issue inside the carb that is causing the seals to get we just by putting gas in the bowl? Can the carb be taken off the manifold while still bolted to the engine? I feel like this is a minor little thing that I can fix on my end without having Bill swap me out with replacement parts.

Those four bolts that hold the carb onto the manifold are what keep the thing air tight. They have nothing to do with fuel. I could be completely wrong (and I have been before) but it sounds like something is leaking internally in the carburetor and causing that gasket to get wet.

My next step would be to remove those four nuts that hold the carburetor on that gasket, sit the carb on a make shift stand (with bottom exposed), and fill the bowl with fuel. There shouldn't be anything dripping from under the carb. Fuel only comes from the venturies, and without vacuum no fuel is going to exit the venturies (thats the two circle looking loops).

There might very well be a pin hole leak or crack in the carburetor. At that point, you could try patching or welding it with something.

Just my two cents. This certainly is an interesting issue.

Rest assured, we have a backup of Farrar's car blog and it will be restored in the near future. (Steve Rice - March 2016)
Rest assured, we have a backup of Shep's posts and all of them will be restored in the near future. (Steve Rice - March 2017)